Fort Smith Students Learn Economics At Elvis Carnival (Video)

Fort Smith Students Learn Economics At Elvis Carnival (Video)

Rachel Rodemann • Times Record / Beard Elementary School sixth-grader Gabbie Caldwell, 12, catches a sock during an Elvis Has Left The Building sock toss game at the annual Beard Elementary Elvis Economics Carnival, Thursday, April 17, 2014.

Beard Elementary School in Fort Smith hosted an annual event Thursday that has delighted generations of students, the Elvis Economics Carnival.

After more than a dozen years, the carnival is a well-oiled machine, with Jan Honeycutt as its leader. “It’s a good way to learn about economics, as well as the historic connection to the community,” explained Honeycutt, the fifth- and sixth-grade teacher who founded the event.

“When they were closing the base back in ’96,” Honeycutt said, “we started an Elvis Economic project to save the historic barbershop where he got his first haircut, and we’ve had different economic activities over the years.”

“We donated $1,119.58 in May of ’08,” she said. “And the barbershop is now a museum, so we feel like that has been successful.”

Using “Barber Bucks” to purchase snacks and game tickets, students in Honeycutt’s class learned about sales and purchasing, supply and demand, and the struggles of running a shop, while they ran the carnival for their classmates.

The students proposed business ideas, then had to hash out the theories of how they would work, explained John Borntrager, paraprofessional aide in Honeycutt’s classroom. “Some were successful and some were not,” he said, adding that the carnival represented a culmination to their economics lesson.

The students ran a large Elvis bingo game, which a student said taught her about patience, the importance of speaking clearly, and repetition, a cakewalk-like march on Army boot cut-outs, rock ’n roll putt-putt golf, and an Elvis Has Left the Building sock toss.

As third- through sixth-graders made their way through the carnival in 30-minute shifts, giggles, squeals and excited shouts echoed through the room, teaching not only the value of money, but the value in having a good time.